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Yesterday we released an article talking about changes that are being made to the western localization of Fire Emblem Fates. The change is specifically about a sequence of conversations that happen as the player character improves their relationship with a companion Soliel. There was an uproar made about this interaction way back when the game originally released in 2015 and in the lead up to the games February 19th release has reared its ugly head again.

Originally when Nintendo was asked about about the dialogue in Fire Emblem they responded that “the North American and European version of the game will have no expression which might be considered as gay conversion or drugging that occurs between characters.” To help explain this statement, they released a larger statement to Siliconera:

Making changes is not unusual when we localize games, and we have indeed made changes in these games. When we localize a game we do so in order to make it appropriate for that particular territory. All our choices were made from that point of view.

In the Conquest edition a male main character created by the gamer can pair up with another male character (Niles) which ultimately leads to marriage. Similarly, in the Birthright edition, a female main character created by the gamer can pair up with and eventually marry another female character (Rhajat). Like married couples of the opposite gender, these same-sex couples enjoy the stat boosts that come with marriage, which means when they are paired up in battle they are stronger than when they are apart or paired up with another character.

In the third edition, Revelation, that will be released as DLC in the eShop on March 10, a same-sex marriage is possible regardless of the sex of your main character, as both Niles and Rhajat can be encountered in this edition.

This statement from Nintendo is a clear statement that a characteristic such as the sexual orientation that you assign your character is completely up to the player. The inclusion of equal stat boosts also show that there is no in-game penalty applied to whoever you wish to marry.

It is also good to keep in mind that all we know is that the scene involving Soliel is that it is being changed. No one has yet seen how the scene is being changed.

What do you think of Nintendo’s response to the matter? What do you think of localization changes to avoid controversy? What do you think you would have done if it were up to you? Sound off in the comments below!

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I have been playing all kinds of games for as long as I can remember with a particular interest in action adventure and platforming titles. While I am primarily an Xbox gamer I also spend a fair bit of time on the PS4 and on my PC in VR.